Speed Demon
by Lady Gwenevere Smith
Summary: It's the end of the world and the League is defeated. Will Wally run away, or save the day?


**Speed Demon**

**_One ought never to turn one's back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half. Never run away from anything. Never!__  
__—__Winston Churchill_**

So this was it. They had lost. Lexiac had won. The Justice League lay scattered before him, its most powerful members lying uselessly at his feet. All that was left was The Flash, but he quelled under the monstrous gaze of the inhuman hybrid before him, and turned and sped away.

"Coward," the human part that remained in Lexiac grinned.

If he had known that defeating the League was this easy, he would have given his body and considerable intellect over to the world destroying AI years ago. Then again…he supposed he already had. Who knew that when Braniac had shot him with a repulsor ray years ago as he, Lex, tried to escape his forced captivity, that one shot would not be the end of him, like he had feared, but instead, his salvation. His cancer, derived from carrying around that hatefully glowing green rock, was gone. He was in better shape than he had ever achieved in his entire life. And most importantly, the League was defeated. Soon, Superman would be dead, and both Lex's and Braniac's thirst for revenge against the insufferably "good" Kryptonian would be quenched.

He picked up the Man of Steel by his hair, wrenching his face back and forcing him to look up at his murderers.

"At last Kal-El, you are mine. You have no escape. You cannot win. You will be deleted."

The voice that spoke was a chilling combination of Lex's low, growling drawl and Braniac's steely robotic indifference. It was an unholy abomination.

Superman forced himself not to show any emotion. He no longer had any strength to move, to fly away and recharge in the sun's healing light, but he was not about to die begging for mercy. He was too proud, too strong, too….super, to stoop to that low. Besides, if he could just keep Lex/Braniac talking, maybe there would be some hope. Perhaps John Stewart would regain just enough consciousness to send a distress call to his fellow Green Lanterns. They were, after all, the equivalent of intergalactic cops wielding rings with untold power. Surely they would be able to defeat Lexiac?

Or maybe Batman would wake up and reveal his triumphant plan, a winning strategy that he had thought of and had been in the process of implementing just in case something like this happened. For Superman knew that just because Bruce was the only one without powers, didn't make him any less threatening. If anything, it made him that much more so.

But Batman lay quite still, as did John. The usually bright green glow that always bathed him in protective light from the ring's power was gone. For a moment Superman thought about reaching over to take that ring and try and use it, but he knew that it would not work. The Green Lantern ring only obeyed the will of its true master.

As Lexiac rambled on in a token villain speech, all the while holding onto Superman's hair with a painfully tight grip, the Kryptonian surveyed his fallen comrades. There was Diana, princess of the Amazons and the most beautiful woman living, besides Lois. Her long, jet black hair fanned out behind her head, making her look almost peaceful, like she was sleeping. Then there was was J'ohn Jones, the Martian Manhunter. His green skin was charred with dark blue scorch marks and deep cuts, and he had involuntarily reverted back to his more alien form. And then there was Shayera, Hawgirl, former traitor and friend. Her wings, usually so full and powerful, lay crumpled behind her in a pathetic heap. It was as though a tragically beautiful swan had been brutally shot down out of the sky, broken and bloodied. And of course, there was Bruce. So strong, so tough. So human. Superman's heart broke for each of them, knowing that it was all his fault they were like this. If he had just finished off Lex and Braniac once and for all, instead of showing them unearned mercy countless times, none of this would have happened.

But wait. There was someone missing. A loud, obnoxious, impatient, immature and incredibly fast someone. Wally West, The Flash, was gone. Where could he have gone? Surely he would not have deserted his friends, not after all they had endured together. And yet, the Fastest Man Alive was nowhere to be seen—WHAM!

If it hadn't been for the earsplitting bang and Lexiac letting go of his hair, Superman was sure he would have thought that red streak, impossible to see even with his superior vision, would have just been a hallucination. And then BAM! It happened again. Lexiac staggered and then was thrown back again and again and again and an almost invisible force hit him relentlessly. It was Wally, running like he had never run before, streaking all the way around the globe, completely giving into his power, to use the last of his energy to defeat this one last great threat. Wally knew it was a gamble, a poor one at best. Bruce probably would have laughed at him, that is, if Bruce was capable of laughing without totally creeping out everyone around him. Hawkgirl would have told him he was an idiot, and GL would have smacked him upside the head with a giant green hand. The other three would have looked at him sympathetically, trying not to betray their thoughts that he really was just a guy who ran almost as fast as he talked, and that he was in no way the experienced powerhouses they were.

But they weren't there now. There was only him, silly, stupid little Wally, and he did the only thing he knew how: he ran. As he made his third trip around the globe, he knew something was wrong. He was vibrating so fast that he couldn't see himself anymore. He felt weird, different, like he was made of pure energy. He knew that after this last round, he would either had to keep going this fast and never stop, or that Lexiac might stand a chance of defeat. Wally had moved fast enough to atomize most of the armor containing Braniac, but he wasn't sure he could stop fast enough to prevent Lex from being nothing more than a few cells floating in the air. Putting it that way made it almost seem like what was about to happen was not murder, but more or less a conversion into a new state of being. Wally laughed. Now he was starting to sound like the Martian.

He hit Lexiac one more time, with all the power and speed he could muster, and there was a giant, earth rattling explosion of brilliant white light, and then it all went dark. Wally couldn't see for a moment, but then he opened his eyes, and saw the most beautiful sight. Everything was moving just as fast as he was, bathed in dazzling rays of gold and silver; the cosmos opened to him to reveal all their wonder and mystery. He had gone so fast he had tuned himself into light itself, been completely swallowed by the Speed Force that was the source of his power. He sighed dreamily. So this was heaven? It was so much more…alive than he thought it would be. He wondered if the others would be joining him soon. He thought of Diana, and how she would look in a place like this; her beauty, already so vast on earth, would be probably increased to the point that she would outshine even the sun. And the others, the ones who had lost so much, like Bruce and Clark and J'ohn, would they all be able to find peace now? Wally hoped this would be so.

And then, from what seemed like an eternity away, he heard a voice calling for him. It sounded so small, and yet so familiar.

"Hawkgirl?" he asked contentedly.

How fitting, he thought, that the woman who looked like an angel would be the first to arrive in this heavenly place.

"Wally!" she screamed, this time louder, more distinct.

"Shayera, is that you? It's so beautiful here," he called back to her.

He hoped she was brining the others. He wanted them to share in this place with him, to marvel at how everything ebbed and flowed with an indescribable grace. But then, he felt a hand clamp down on his arm tightly, dragging him slowly towards a glowing mass. He could hear voices calling to him, each one very familiar and beloved. And then, in another bright flash of light, he landed with a dull thud onto hard ground. Everything felt unnervingly solid. He could feel his fingers and aching muscles again. His head pounded with an unbearable pain. Wally felt an gentle hand on his shoulder and looked up into Shayera's grateful brilliant green eyes.

"I don't think I can ever go that fast again," he said softly.

Based of the Justice League Unlimted Episode "Divided We Fall".


End file.
